Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska opened up a 22-point lead in the first half, then watched South Dakota cut that lead to two before the Huskers were able to turn back the upset bid 73-61 on Saturday.I was really proud of our guys to perform down the stretch, said Nebraska coach Tim Miles. South Dakota competed really hard and really, I thought, out-competed us the second half. When you get punched in the mouth, you cant look at that and say `Oh gee, whats going on, do I have any teeth left? Youve just got to swallow them, spit the blood out and keep battling.Nebraska (5-3) hit 10 of its first 15 shots, 4 of 7 from 3-point range, while the Husker defense stifled South Dakota (6-4). The Coyotes hit just 2 of their first 11 shots and turned the ball over six times in the game-opening stretch that saw Nebraska lead 26-4 with 11:23 left in the first half.We looked like Edward Scissorhands out there for the first eight minutes or so -- a lot of turnovers, just driving in there and playing volleyball, throwing it up there and seeing what happened, said South Dakota coach Craig Smith We had to adjust and once we finally kind of settled in, I really liked we saw our of team. I thought we had great resolve. Im proud of how we played when we got down 22 in a hostile environment.Nebraska led 41-21 on Jack McVeighs 3-pointer with 2:53 left in the half, but the Huskers hit just one field goal and a pair of free throws the rest of the half and the Coyotes trailed 45-31 at halftime.The Huskers made 5 of 16 shots against South Dakotas zone defense to open the second half and turned the ball over eight times. Nebraska hit 33 percent of its shots in the second half.Credit to them, said Nebraska forward Michael Jacobsen. They definitely switched defenses and pressed and did some things that kind of got us on our heels and out of our attack mindset, which I thought was pretty good at the outset of the game.Credit to them, no doubt. They definitely switched defenses and pressed and did some things that kind of got us on our heels and out of our attack mindset, which I thought was pretty good at the outset of the game.Trailing 56-42 in the second half, the Coyotes went on a 12-0 run, cutting the Husker lead to two on Matt Mooneys layup with 7:30 left. Nebraskas Tai Webster countered with a 3-pointer to push the lead back to five and McVeighs 3 with 2:45 left made it 67-58.McVeigh finished with 16 points and made 4 of 9 from behind the arc.McVeigh hit some big shots in the second half, Smith said. He got a groove going, exactly what he needed early on, hit three 3s in the first half and started feeling it. Then hit a couple big 3s in the second half when we were in the midst of a big-time run. Coach (Miles) has been upfront and honest about it, theyve got to make some threes that way.Webster scored 12 points with three 3s for Nebraska and Michael Jacobson added 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.BIG PICTURENebraska: Saturdays contest against South Dakota was a breather in the Huskers challenging pre-conference schedule. Nebraska played No. 11 UCLA the Friday after Thanksgiving, traveled to Clemson last week and will face No. 10 Creighton and No. 4 Kansas in its next two games.South Dakota: South Dakota, which has four players on its roster from the state of Nebraska, is off to its best start since joining NCAA Division 1 in 2008.POSTGAME COMEDYSmith was an assistant with Miles at four different schools, including Nebraska, before taking the South Dakota job two years ago. They did the postgame press conference together, turning it into a comedy act.I figured if we didnt do a joint press conference Id never get him out of here, Miles said opening the press conference.Im surprised you let me talk, Smith replied. In 11 years, I didnt say a whole lot.I had a lot of answers, Miles said.UP NEXTNebraska will host in-state rival Creighton WednesdaySouth Dakota will return to Vermillion to host Montana State Wednesday. Colorado Avalanche Jerseys . Francis told several hundred members of the European Olympic Committees that when sport "is considered only in economic terms and consequently for victory at every cost . Lanny McDonald Jersey . The CFLs leading rusher kept adding to his gaudy numbers this season and scored the winning touchdown with just over two minutes to play. The New Westminster, B.C., native plowed three yards into the end zone for the last score of a heated, see-saw battle between the two teams with the best records in the CFL. http://www.hockeyavalanche.com/customized/ . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. Peter Forsberg Jersey .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. Teemu Selanne Jersey .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. VERMILLION, S.D. -- Backup quarterback Austin Simmons threw for two touchdowns as South Dakota edged Illinois State 27-24 on Saturday.Simmons, a redshirt freshman filling in for injured starter Chris Streveler, had 205 yards on 13-of-30 passing for the Coyotes (4-3, 3-1 Missouri Valley). Michael Frederick ran for a score and Miles Bergner kicked a pair of field goals.Simmons threw a 15-yard score Riley Donovan late in the first quarter and a 26-yard scoring strike to Tacari Carpenter late in the secondd and South Dakota led 24-17 at the break.ddddddddddddBergners second field goal of the day, a 39-yarder, made it 27-17 with 4:46 left in the third quarter.The Redbirds (3-5, 1-4) closed to within 27-24 in the fourth quarter on a 42-yard pass from Jake Kolbe to Christian Gibbs with 7:43 to play but that was the end of the scoring.Kolbe threw for 241 yards for Illinois State. ' ' '